Sajal Barui

Case record: Sajal Barui

Background

Sajal Barui was a convicted criminal who was serving a life sentence in prison for the murder of his father, stepmother, and stepbrother. The murders were committed when he was sixteen.

Sajal Barui’s father, Subal Barui, abandoned his first wife, Neoti Barui, and had a relationship with another woman, Minati. Sajal was conceived out of this affair. After a few years, Subal Barui returned to his first wife and took Sajal along with him. Sajal did not see his natural mother after the age of eight.

After his arrest, Sajal Barui recounted that he had often been burned with burning cigarettes and hot irons in his childhood.

The offence

On the night of November 22, 1993, Sajal Barui and five friends, all of the same age, arrived at his residence in North Kolkata.

The group found his stepmother alone, gagged her, and tied her up to a chair. A similar fate befell his stepbrother when he arrived, and also his father shortly before midnight.

Sajal Barui and one of his accomplices, Ranjit, initially tried to murder the three victims by strangling them, but only the stepmother succumbed. Unable to kill his father and stepbrother, Sajal Barui and Ranjit hacked and stabbed them to death. The ordeal took nearly three hours.

After the crimes, on Sajal Barui’s directions, his friends cleaned their weapons with mustard oil and neatly organized them on the table.

The group ate a few Bengali sweets from the refrigerator and left a few coins on the table as “payment” for the food, an idea that had occurred to Sajal Barui from watching a television program.

Before the friends left, they tied Sajal Barui up to a chair and gagged him to give the appearance that he was a victim too.

The murders made headlines in Kolkata press due to the gruesome nature of the crimes and due to the fact that Sajal Barui and his accomplices were minors at the time.

Investigation, arrest, and confession

Sajal Barui initially was able to allay suspicions. However, the Kolkata Police became suspicious because he showed no signs of a struggle or any other injuries.

Upon interrogation, Sajal Barui confessed to committing the murders and detailed the crimes. Neither he, nor his accomplices showed any signs of remorse. Even when the death sentence was announced, the group chose to clap and sing in unison.

Trial and sentencing

Sajal Barui was sentenced to death. Later, the Calcutta High Court reduced the sentence to life imprisonment.

Appeals

The Calcutta High Court reduced the sentence to life in prison.

Escape

Sajal Barui had been serving his sentence at the Dum Dum Cantonment, but had been moved to Midnapore Central Jail in July 2000 due to “administrative problems”.

In 2001, while serving his prison sentence, Sajal Barui showed signs of an alleged kidney ailment and was transferred to Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital for examination.

On September 15, 2001, Sajal Barui escaped from the hospital and was at large until early 2003.

On the night of his escape, Sajal Barui hosted a beer party and invited two police constables who had been put on guard to watch him. He often offered beer that had been smuggled in by his girlfriend to the constables, so they did not suspect his motives. That night, however, he spiked the two bottles of beer the constables had been given to drink with sleeping pills, watched them fall asleep, and then walked out of the hospital unhindered.

Fugitive period and crimes under aliases

After escaping, Sajal Barui emailed a friend in Mumbai and fled there. He married there and returned to Kolkata, leaving his wife in Asansol.

He committed a number of crimes under various aliases.

Police officers of the Phoolbagan and Maniktala Police Stations of Calcutta nearly succeeded in recapturing Sajal Barui in early 2003. They traced his girlfriend and set up a sting operation to recapture him. Sajal Barui did not show up for the arranged rendezvous.

Sajal Barui then took refuge in the den of a local criminal known as Hathkata Bishu (Bengali for one-armed Bishu) in Lake Town, Kolkata. He worked with Bishu under the alias Kamal and was responsible for a robbery in the Ultadanga area of Kolkata.

As the search for Kamal intensified, Sajal Barui migrated to Jamboni in West Midnapore district to work for Rajeev Meti, a local criminal.

Recapture

In late February 2003, a criminal who went by the name of Sheikh Raju was arrested for petty theft in the Jamboni area of West Midnapore district and was brought to Midnapore Central Jail.

On May 16, 2003, after masquerading as Sheikh Raju for almost three months, the criminal was positively identified as Sajal Barui by a jailer who had met him earlier when he was serving his life sentence at the Alipore Central Jail in Kolkata.

Activities since recapture

On recapture, Sajal Barui was sent to the Presidency Jail in Kolkata. Here, he formed a network with the terrorist Aftab Ansari, the prime accused in the 2002 terrorist attack on the American Center in Kolkata, and with Debashish Chakraborty, a criminal convicted of killing his girlfriend and attempting to kill his mother.

Soon after this criminal nexus was discovered, Sajal Barui was shifted to the Alipore Central Jail. Debashish Chakraborty was moved to Midnapore Central Jail, from where he escaped on May 28, 2005, only to be recaptured two days later.

As of October 2006, Sajal Barui was serving out his life sentence in jail.

People

• Sajal Barui — convicted offender.
• Subal Barui — father of Sajal Barui; one of the victims.
• Neoti Barui — first wife of Subal Barui; mother of Sajal Barui.
• Minati — another woman in a relationship with Subal Barui; Sajal Barui’s natural mother.
• Stepmother — one of the victims.
• Stepbrother — one of the victims.
• Ranjit — accomplice of Sajal Barui.
• Hathkata Bishu (Bengali for one-armed Bishu) — local criminal; associate during refuge in Lake Town, Kolkata.
• Kamal — alias used by Sajal Barui.
• Rajeev Meti — local criminal; employer in Jamboni, West Midnapore district.
• Sheikh Raju — name used by the criminal brought to Midnapore Central Jail; later positively identified as Sajal Barui.
• Aftab Ansari — terrorist; connected through a network in Presidency Jail.
• Debashish Chakraborty — convicted criminal; connected through a network in Presidency Jail.
• Police constables (two) — guarded Sajal Barui at Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital; were given spiked sleeping-pills beer.
• Jailers and police officers (Phoolbagan and Maniktala Police Stations) — identified and pursued Sajal Barui during recapture efforts.

Timeline

• November 22, 1993 — Sajal Barui and five friends arrived at his residence in North Kolkata; the stepmother, stepbrother, and father were killed.
• July 2000 — Sajal Barui was moved to Midnapore Central Jail from Dum Dum Cantonment due to “administrative problems”.
• 2001 — Sajal Barui showed signs of an alleged kidney ailment and was transferred to Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital for examination.
• September 15, 2001 — Sajal Barui escaped from Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital.
• Early 2003 — Sajal Barui remained at large and police nearly succeeded in recapture using a sting operation.
• Late February 2003 — Sheikh Raju was arrested for petty theft in Jamboni, West Midnapore district and brought to Midnapore Central Jail.
• May 16, 2003 — Sheikh Raju was positively identified as Sajal Barui.
• May 28, 2005 — Debashish Chakraborty escaped from Midnapore Central Jail.
• Two days later (after May 28, 2005) — Debashish Chakraborty was recaptured.
• October 2006 — Sajal Barui was serving out his life sentence in jail.